The land bank will need to determine how much it thinks it can eventually sell the house for, then decide if it is willing to risk initially losing money on the transaction to return a blighted home to the tax rolls.

What type of countertops should it install? What type of kitchen? How luxurious should the bathroom be?

At its meeting Tuesday, the land bank members began to wrestle with how to answer those questions. With only $250,000 on hand, the members have some concern for burning through cash initially. The land bank can receive the property taxes on the home for five years after it is returned to the market, but board member Ron Buxton cautioned the land bank should be prepared for the house to be on the market for a bit.

County Commissioner George Hartwick III, who is not a voting member of the board, did note that the land bank was created to improve neighborhoods by fixing blighted properties. That might mean not turning a profit on the initial sale.

"If these were profitable for the private sector, they wouldn't be coming to the land bank," Hartwick said.

Just breaking even on the first project should be the goal, said land bank chairman Matt Tunnel.

Before that can happen, a lot of work has to be done.

Tuesday, the land bank received a report from the Dauphin County Housing Authority estimating it will cost between $56,700 and $79,900 to rehabilitate the structure, depending on the level of improvements the land bank wants to make to the home at 209 Lincoln Street.

Before the land bank closes on the property in January, it will seek out estimates from Realtors that specialize in Steelton to determine what the house might sell for. It will also have the home checked for lead paint, and have the sewer line connection scoped. Using those estimates, it will sit down with Dauphin County engineer HRG to create the request for proposals that will go out to contractors.

The goal, Foreman said, would be to have the RFP ready for a vote by the authority's January 14 meeting.

Dauphin County Prison believes some of the work on the house could be performed by inmates in its Project TRADE program, which seeks to have inmates ready to begin an apprenticeship when they are released. That program could potentially lower the land bank's costs.

The land bank is also exploring options for taking a construction loan, Tunnel said. If it can receive good rates on a loan that would allow it to pay only interest for the better part of a year, it could finance the costs rather than dip into its cash supply. The hope would be to sell the home, or be close, before principal payments are due.

To that end, the land bank is already looking at sales agents, and could vote as early as January.

"So as soon as we start working on the property, we are starting to work on valuing it and marketing it so we can turn it around as quickly as possible," Foreman said.

Note: The Land Bank Authority also approved changing the times of its meetings in 2014. Beginning in January, they will be held at 11 a.m. the second Tuesday of the month.

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